I noticed that even before I reached Monk lvl 8, I was able to 'strike' while in shifted form. I never hit, but I didn't get the "Maybe you should practice that skill first" message that I get from kick.
Now that I have strike from my Monk levels, I still can't land a single hit while shifted. It made sense that I couldn't hit before I learned it naturally, as strike seems dependant on a Monk's knowledge of the 'ideal' place to land a hit.
Along those lines, though, it makes sense that once a Druid has learned the skill from training as a Monk, he'd be able to draw upon that knowledge to land powerful hits while shifted.
What I'd really like is to know if I'm just wasting my time typing strike every round while I'm shifted.
Thanks!